Ingenious: how research transforms our world

For more than half a century, pacemakers have had one main job: keep the heart beating steadily. Now University of Auckland researchers are testing a device that does something extra, syncing the heartbeat to breathing in a way that might help damaged hearts repair.

Most people can imagine a dog barking or hear a song playing in their brain.But about one in 125 have a silent mind. Now scientists are investigating how consciousness works without sound.

Pre-colonial Māori didn’t have a housing problem. The Crown created one. Can the past give us clues to fix housing today? 

Genetics, gut bugs, new drugs and surgery – this episode is about how groundbreaking research is changing how we understand and treat one of our most intractable health problems: obesity.

As AI tools churn out striking art, the question remains: when the spark comes from prompts and past data, is it creation - or just clever theft?

Ingenious is back for another season exploring groundbreaking research and mind-expanding concepts. We meet the amazing people behind those ideas and explore the impact of their work on the world – and on our lives.

The world faces ‘democratic recession’. Today more people live in autocratic regimes than in liberal democracies. Researchers from the University of Auckland are exploring ways to reshape democracy for the 21st century, re-inventing a 2500-year-old idea from ancient Greece and consensus decision-making hui as practised on marae. From Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, New Zealand's leading research institution, Ingenious is a podcast exploring how research from New Zealand is transforming the world for the better.Hosted by experienced podcast and award winning journalist Nikki Mandow, Ingenious tells the stories of innovation, ambition and hope from the University of Auckland's leading researchers.

As if space was not dangerous enough, there are an estimated 130 million bits of space junk from 1mm to much larger in orbit, each shooting along at about 8km/sec, the speed of a bullet. Fortunately researchers at Te Pūnaha Ātea - the Space Institute are working to reduce space junk.From Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, New Zealand's leading research institution, Ingenious is a podcast exploring how research from New Zealand is transforming the world for the better.Hosted by experienced podcast and award winning journalist Nikki Mandow, Ingenious tells the stories of innovation, ambition and hope from the University of Auckland's leading researchers.

In the third episode of Ingenious learn about the researchers and artists applying the power of dance to heal an increasingly fractured world and how the simple act of moving together lights up multiple parts of our brain.From Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, New Zealand's leading research institution, Ingenious is a podcast exploring how research from New Zealand is transforming the world for the better.Hosted by experienced podcast and award winning journalist Nikki Mandow, Ingenious tells the stories of innovation, ambition and hope from the University of Auckland's leading researchers.

In the second episode of Ingenious hear about how in the near future digital versions of ourselves will forecast how our bodies respond to surgery or medication. From the University of Auckland, New Zealand's leading research institution, Ingenious is a podcast exploring how research from New Zealand is transforming the world for the better.Hosted by experienced podcast and award winning journalist Nikki Mandow, Ingenious tells the stories of innovation, ambition and hope from the University of Auckland's leading researchers.